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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. rock — music
  4. wax — to grow
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. pop — soda
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. tear — to rip
  10. kid — child
  11. chair — a leader
  12. pop — to visit
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kid — to tease
  15. rock — a stone
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pop — music
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. pitcher — a jug

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com